Identity Cards

[Dexter St. Clair]

What is it with spelling, this isn't your first mention

Nor yours

The Redbull Railstorm, The Fresh'n'Lo Great Scottish Run, they can't even spell. Sponsored by companies, why is everything sponsored Evil or Very Mad

[Vladimir]

That's true. I don't remember the Evil or Very Mad bit though, i seem to remember emoticons , not that Fresh 'n' Lo isn't evil or mad

[Captain Brittles]

Reference to Scotland reminds of a rather farcical inteview I saw just after the election.

The interviewer was trying to get a straight answer to a question posed by the Scot, namely as to whether or not ID legislation passed in the English Parliament would or would not be treated as Reserved Issue in Scotland, and if Scots would therfore need an ID card in England, but not Scotland (I'm assuming the MSP had said the Scottish Parliament wasn't going to tow the line, but don't know).

Immigration is a reserved power of the UK Parliament Apollo, just like defence and foreign affairs etc. and so the ID scheme would apply to the whole of the UK. The Scottish Parliament doesn't have a say whatsoever.

Saw in the paper today the latest estimated cost per citizen is £96. What happens to my household where there is 3 childern under 16 ? Am I up for a £480 bill ???

They can shove it right up their collective arses.

[Apollo]

That's what I thought, it was stated as Reserved when it was brought up previously, but the these two elected members, standing in the multi-multi-million pound Scottish Parliament buildiong, seemed to be unable to provide a straight answer to a straight question.

Somebody remind me, what are we paying these characters to do???

[Captain Brittles]

Somebody remind me, what are we paying these characters to do???

Well Jack McConnel is in Malawi right now pretenting he's the Prime Minister of Scotland.

I really would like to think that his visit will result in something tangible being done in helping this pathetiaclly poor land locked bit of Africa but I can't see how as the Scottish Executive has no overseas aid budget and no authority to give aid to a foreign country. So why is he duplicating Gordon Brown's extremely well publicised pre-election visit to Africa?

[Vladimir]

He's probalbly advertising Scotland, like at 'Tartan Day' or whatever. I think Bob Geldof scared him into it to be honest when he said Scotland wasnt doing enough for Africa , he wants to keep a good public image.

[Apollo]

Probaly out there trying to recruit cheap labour to go gold-panning in Dalmally, after which he'll eject them as illegal immigrants and confiscate the proceeds for the Scottish Treasury.

[duncan]

The cards have nothing to do with racism etc. , white people are more likely to be questioned by police in general anyway.

you sure? chances are it'll lead to situations like the notorius 'suss', where police have carte blanche to stop and question anyone they consider suspicious, i.e. young black and asian males.

when we had ID cards last, they were withdrawn for exactly this reason, police abuse of powers.

[Vladimir]

When were the last ID cards?

Its about time then that they spent money and time on defeating racism, especially within the police, armed forces etc. It wont be easy, and will never be fully succesful, but we could at least try.

[duncan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_na ... ntity_card

Compulsory identity cards were first issued in the United Kingdom during World War I, and abandoned in 1919.

Cards were re-introduced during World War II under the National Registration Act 1939, but were abandoned seven years after the end of that war in 1952, amid widespread public resentment. Opposition reached its peak with the 1951 court case of Willcock v Muckle, after Clarence Henry Willcock refused to produce his identity card. The judge in the case said that the cards were an "annoyance" and "tended to turn law-abiding subjects into law breakers".

Wartime cards were a temporary measure to combat a obvious threat and didn't collect information on people through a central database.

[Apollo]

Vladimir, if you haven't already looked at the past posts in here, check Page 5 for an actual 1947 card used in Glasgow.

[Vladimir]

I'll look more carefully next time I'm surprised they were withdrawn as late as 1952

[stinkpad]

http://eclectech.co.uk/clarkeidcards.php

[Apollo]

While not being one to soak in the glory of "I told you so" it would appear the the Central Database (always quietly whispered when the government is promoting its ID cards) will be avaialble for those with a little cash to spare.

Your data is secret and secure (unless we want to make a quick buck).

Personal details of all 44 million adults living in Britain could be sold to private companies as part of government attempts to arrest spiralling costs for the new national identity card scheme, set to get the go-ahead this week.

The Independent on Sunday can today reveal that ministers have opened talks with private firms to pass on personal details of UK citizens for an initial cost of £750 each.

Amid warnings today that the cost of a card for each adult in Britain is likely to double to £200, union leaders predicted that millions of public-sector workers could refuse to co-operate with the scheme, prompting claims that the ID scheme will become Labour's equivalent of the poll tax.

And the rest of the lunacy at:

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politi ... ory=649780

Still, it seems someone in there still has a functional brain cell, no doubt due to be "retired" soon:

Whitehall insiders, who have already been passed a copy of the LSE report, say it also includes a warning by a former Nato security chief that the cards could be a "security disaster", are "too risky" to introduce, and could lead to a national meltdown in the event of a security breach of the central database.

[Captain Brittles]

Is there any chance we might get a fee everytime the goverment sells our information to a third party ? After all it is ours. It belongs to us - not them or anybody else. The colour or make up of my iris's and fingerprints belong to me. My parents gave them to me, I nourish them and look after them everyday, they're mine!

I hereby claim copyright © of my genetic features.